Lancaster man convicted of BWC fraud

LANCASTER - A city man must pay the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation back about $7,000 after pleading guilty to workers' compensation fraud.

A Franklin County Common Pleas Court judge also sentenced Charles Malone, 43, to 180 days in jail for the first-degree misdemeanor. However, the court suspended the jail time in lieu of five years community control provided that Malone works and pays back $6,879 to BWC.

Malone worked for an air conditioning company for six months in 2016 while also collecting injured-worker benefits from BWC. In order to hide his employment, he had is employer issue his paychecks to his girlfriend in her name, the BWC said.

"He gave his employer a plausible explanation and they fell for it," BWC Special Investigations Director Jim Wernecke said in a statement. "As for the girlfriend, she could also face charges for her role in helping Mr. Malone defraud our agency."